Skelmersdale Walk in Centre

Updated 1 May 2020

The Skelmersdale walk-in centre provides care to the population of Skelmersdale and the surrounding area. It is commissioned by the West Lancashire clinical commissioning group (CCG) and provides services to the local population of approximately 40,000 people. The provider is registered to deliver the following regulated activities; diagnostics and screening, transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The walk-in centre provides treatment by nurses, paramedics and health care assistants (HCAs) for patients between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week and 365 days a year; no appointment is required. Services are provided by Virgin Care Services Limited on behalf of NHS West Lancashire CCG.

The walk-in centre is located adjacent to a large shopping centre in purpose-built accommodation. There are five treatment rooms, a resuscitation room and a pharmacist’s room. There is a large reception area with enough seating and additional office space for administration staff and managers.

The service provides a walk-in and wait service for minor illnesses and minor injuries and is staffed primarily by health care assistants, nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and paramedics. The clinical team are supported by receptionists and a management and administrative team. Staff at the walk-in centre also deliver services at the West Lancashire Urgent Care Centre (UTC) some 5 miles away, also provided by Virgin Care limited. Services at the UTC are for more urgent needs and other specialist services can be provided there which are not available at the walk-in centre, for example, X-Ray and other hospital facilities.

There is parking outside the centre including dedicated disabled spaces; there is no railway station in Skelmersdale. All care is provided on the ground floor of the building.

The service operates from: Skelmersdale Walk-in Centre, 116-118 South Way, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 6LJ.

Updated 1 May 2020

This service is rated as Good overall. (Previously rated as requires improvement 20 November 2018).

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Skelmersdale walk-in centre on 20 November 2018. Following our inspection, we rated the practice requires improvement overall and also for the Safe, Effective and Well-led key questions. At our inspection in November 2018, we identified concerns in relation to the identification and monitoring of risks. We also found that staff training was not to the appropriate level in relation to life support and the treatment of children.

Following the inspection in November 2018, we issued a requirement notice for breaches of Regulation 17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (Good governance and Staffing).

The above inspection report can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Skelmersdale walk-in centre on our website at

We carried out this announced comprehensive inspection at Skelmersdale walk-in centre on 11 March 2020. This inspection was conducted as part of our inspection programme and to check that improvements had been made following the previous inspection. Our inspection included a visit to the service’s site at the Concourse Shopping Centre, Southway, Skelmersdale.

The head of urgent care is the registered manager of the service. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

As part of our inspection, 34 people provided feedback about the service via CQC comments cards who told us about their experiences using the service. Thirty of them were very positive about the service, one was negative and three were mixed. Patients described the service as excellent and praised the staff for their caring and understanding attitude. They told us they found the service very convenient and the clinicians very caring and professional. A minority of patients said the waiting time to be seen was excessive.

Our key findings were :

• The service had introduced and maintained comprehensive systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When they did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes. There was a blame free culture.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• There was a strong focus on quality improvement. Audit was regular, structured and informed by service outcomes.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the service within an appropriate timescale for their needs. Patient feedback on the service was almost wholly positive, with a minority of patients finding waiting times excessive.
• Staff involved and treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Staff at all levels were enthusiastic and demonstrated high levels of knowledge and professionalism. Staff training was viewed as a priority.
• There was a common focus on improving the quality and sustainability of care.

We saw the following outstanding practice:

• The service conducted a variety of real-time scenario tests for emergency medical situations which might arise. These were observed, debriefed and any learning identified, and adjustments made to improve future responses. The most recent one related to the identification and processes for dealing with a patient suspected of having contracted the Coronavirus.
• The provider had recognised that some local patients with limited means needed to travel to the local accident and emergency department, when facilities at the walk-in centre were not appropriate for their needs. As a result, a decision was made to provide a free taxi service for those patients assessed as needing that assistance.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGPChief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

Updated 9 April 2019

We rated Community Urgent Care as Requires Improvement on the 9th April 2019, this rating was removed when the location reclassified as a Primary Medical Service, rather than a hospitals location.

The service provided a walk-in and wait service for minor illnesses and minor injuries Monday to Sunday 8am to 8pm. The service did not always have someone on site who was competent to assess and treat children. The service did not routinely audit practice against national guidelines and evidence based practice.

We had concerns in relation to the governance oversight of the service and the monitoring systems and processes in place.

However, staff felt supported by managers and noticed a cultural change since the service had been taken over. Staff were enthusiastic about providing person-centred care.